Punching out hunger the Food & Fund way

October 11, 2012By: Sara BlairCategory: WordPress Import

If eating pizza to fight hunger sounds too good to be true, visit a Punch Pizza during their annual food drive and try it for yourself. Each November, Punch Pizza offers a free pizza with a cash or food donation in support of Second Harvest Heartland. Last year, customers brought in more than 8,300 pounds of food items and raised $4,000 through an online coupon offer—enough for us to deliver more than 21,000 meals to our hungry neighbors!

Punch Pizza’s annual Food & Fund Drive has seen increased customer support every year since it began in 2009. “As a restaurant, we feel a special obligation to help fight hunger in the Twin Cities,” said Jenny Nyquist of Punch Pizza. “We have such a dedicated and generous customer base at Punch, and they look forward to this promotion each year. We are amazed at how many tons of food is collected in just one day and it makes giving away thousands of pizzas totally worth it.”

Although the restaurant staff has to work harder on the day of the drive than any other day in the year, they enjoy working hard for a great cause. Staff even bring in their own food donations and donate their day’s tips to Second Harvest Heartland. The food drive is also important to managers because they know how important fighting hunger in our community is. They work hard to provide extra staff for the day of the drive, keep up with the long lines, and of course, keep making great pizza. At the end of the night, the managers tally the total number of pizzas they’ve given away and count the barrels of food. Every store wants to give away the most pizza and collect the most food donated, because the winners’ bragging rights last until the next year.

Punch Pizza continues to partner with Second Harvest Heartland because they believe in the fight against hunger. At the end of the day, seeing the food donation barrels filled to the top makes all the hard work worth it.